LTS, point releases and the lack of hype

One of the most amazing things about Ubuntu is the commitment to release free security updates for the next 18 months after a release. This commitment grows up to three years for the desktop and five years for the server when it comes to LTS releases. Mark gives a wonderful overview about Ubuntu release process in his post “The Art of Release”.

For LTS releases, on top of the updates, every six months, a new point release gets out, until the next LTS is released. This week Ubuntu 8.04.4 is going to be released. This is going to be Hardy’s last point release, as Lucid, arriving on April, is an LTS release as well.

The problem about these tasks is that they lack of hype. It is always more entertaining to test the latest feature, this new cool theme or install the next release Beta ISO and see how good it is going to look.

But Ubuntu is built to last. We need these people to keep this commitment every release. This post is a big thank you for all those people who work (frequently behind the curtains) to keep Ubuntu releases in shape during their life-cycles.

Thank you guys, you rock. LTS releases rock.
LTS releases are the new hype.

Having run servers on Fedora and Debian for years… we’ve been hacked several times on systems that can no longer get updates. LTS for servers is seriously important because dist upgrades are not easy nor quick in production environments.